If you're seeking to understand Isaiah 40-55, and make sure you get it right, today's passage is absolutely the most important in this entire part of the book. Everything builds up to Isaiah 49, and everything that follows, builds off of it. There are many approaches to these chapters as a whole, and many of those approaches seem to work okay for a while, but most of those approaches fall apart pretty badly right here. There is one single verse, Isaiah 49:3, that's like the key puzzle piece to everything else. You can take an approach, and make it work all the way up to that verse, and then you find yourself unable to finish your puzzle. You're left with this awkward piece, and you find yourself wanting to jam it in there, or cut off a corner (literally, many scholars simply remove the to-them-impossible word "Israel"), to make it fit. At this point in my study, if I want to get a feel for a particular scholar's approach to Isaiah 40-55, I can read just a few pages, and have a pretty good idea how they handle everything else. And I can tell, more importantly, how well they put together the puzzle.
Up to this point, through Isaiah 48, we've seen God's exilic prophet repeatedly call to God's people in exile, encouraging them to listen. And the basic message, up to this point, goes something like this:
God is no longer angry with you. Your sins have all been paid for. God is now in the act of freeing you from Babylon through Mystery Dude from the east, King Cyrus. Cyrus is God's anointed one, God's loved one, and God through Cyrus will bring you home to Jerusalem (Isaiah 48:15).
All of that is set in stone. That much of your future is assured. What is less certain, is how well you go out from Babylon. When God's people originally left Egypt, they left filthy rich. The bread was rushed, and had to be unleavened. But they left with silver and gold, and rich gifts (Exodus 12:34-36). They left with large numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle (Exodus 12:38). They left, richly blessed by Egypt, and by God.
But at this point in Isaiah, it's an open question of how God's people will leave Babylon. Their refusal to listen, and get rid of their idols (Isaiah 48:5), has caused them to miss out on some of God's blessings. And if that refusal continues, they will miss out on still more. God's blessings come to those who seek God, and who are committed to Him. That's who God draws near to (Psalm 101:2). That's who has God's favor (anticipating Isaiah 49:8, a verse from the following passage).
So we left Isaiah 48 with three things:
(1) an open invitation from God, through his prophet, to his people to listen, and pay attention to his commands, to choose the path of shalom.
(2) no indication that God's people would listen to any of this, because the sinews in their neck are made of iron, and their forehead is made of bronze. The people are inflexible, and too stubborn to flinch, or react, to anything.
(3) with God's pivot. Twice in Isaiah 48 we were told that God is "now" doing something new. Let's read Isaiah 48:6-8:
I cause you to hear new things now,
while hidden things, and you haven't known them.
(7) Now they are created, ["now" is focused]
and not earlier,
while before today, you haven't heard them, [v. 6a; *Shalom Paul]
lest you say (v. 5b; *Shalom Paul),
"LOOK! I knew them.
(8) What's more, you haven't heard [v. 6a; 7a; *Paul].
What's more, you haven't known.
What's more, earlier, your ear wasn't opened,
because I knew (v. 7b; *Paul) you would actually betray/act treacherously (1 Samuel 14:33; Jer. 3:20),
while a rebel from the womb, you were called (Genesis 25:26?; Psalm 58:4; Hosea 12:3/4; Jeremiah 9:3
in Hebrew; "every brother actually Jacobs/betrays").
God doesn't announce here what this new thing is. But it is something truly new, that's never been known or heard before. This is no rehashed thing. It's not a slightly revised second edition. Whatever God is doing "now," is something legitimately new.
Now let's hop down to Isaiah 48:16:
(16) Draw near to me;
Listen to this:
It wasn't from the beginning of all this, in secret, that I spoke; ["in secret" is focused]
at the time it happened, there I [was], ["there" is focused]
and now the Lord Yahweh has sent me with his Spirit. [for "me," see Isaiah 40:6; 49:1-6; 60:1]
God's exilic prophet says, "And now" the Lord Yahweh has sent me with his Spirit.
Verse 16 doesn't tell us why God has "now" sent him. But this is not an initial commissioning. This isn't the prophet's grand introduction. And so we find ourselves thinking, that this new thing God is doing "now," he is doing "now" through his prophet.
So Isaiah 48 prepared us for this new thing. As of Isaiah 49, the older new thing God has planned through Cyrus disappears. We're completely done talking about him, I think. God's people are going to get to go home to Jerusalem. The question is, will God break through their stubbornness through this new thing, or will they persist in their idolatry and rebellion?
What God is hoping will happen-- what God wants from you exiles-- is for you to acknowledge that Yahweh is God Most High. Yahweh wants you to throw out your idols (Isaiah 48:5), and pay attention to his commands, and commit to Him. And whatever this new thing is that God is "now" doing, is designed for exactly that.
At this point, we are ready to tackle the first seven verses of Isaiah 49. It starts with God's exilic prophet. This is a debated enough point that I'll need to defend this at least a little bit, and I'm planning to do that next week some. But, as is typical in the prophetic literature, "I" statements are either God, or the prophet, and here it's the prophet.
As you listen, you'll hear the prophet talk to far-off people about his own struggles in ministry, and about a conversation that he had with God, and about something new that God will "now" be doing through him. What's happening here, is that the prophet is using a rhetorical device. He's not going to far-off peoples. He's not becoming a missionary. He's announcing all of this, literally, actually, to God's people in exiles. So why address it to someone else? If you pretend for a minute that you are God's people in exile, I'll think you'll find that there are two answers.
The first, is that you are a stubborn, rebellious people, and the prophet's words are going to be easier to swallow if you're not forced to hear them as being directly spoken to you. What he's going to say will probably sound, in your ears, arrogant, and impossible. And addressing it to far-off people softens that.
The second reason he addresses it to far-off peoples is because what God is doing "now," is ultimately aimed not just at Israel, but at the other nations as well. Let's read through verse 6:
(1) Listen, O coastlands, to me,
and pay attention, O far-off peoples:
Yahweh, from the womb, has called me; ["from the womb" is focused]
from the belly of my mother He has mentioned/made known my name,
(2) and He made my mouth like a sharp sword.
In the shadow of his hand He has hidden me,
and He made me like a sharpened arrow.
In his quiver He has hidden me,
(3) and He said to me,
"My servant, you [are]; ["my servant" is focused; Isaiah 41:8, 9; 42:1; 43:10; 44:1-2; 45:4]
Israel, whom in/by means of you I will glorified," [same phrase, preposition+verb Isaiah 44:23]
(4) while I said,
"For no reason I have labored;
For emptiness (Genesis 1:2)/nothingness (Isa 40:17, 23; 41:29; 44:9; 45:19) and futility (Ecc. 1:2), my strength I have spent. ["my strength" is focused]
However, my judgment [is] with Yahweh,
while my compensation [is] with my God/Elohim,"
(5) and now He has said-- Yahweh, The One forming me from the womb as a servant for him--
to return Jacob to himself,
while Israel to himself would be gathered,
that I would be honored/"heavied" in the eyes of Yahweh,
while my God has become my strength--
(6) He has said,
"Too light/trivial it is for you to be for me a servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
while the preserved ones of Israel to bring back,
and I hereby give you as a light to the nations, [the qatal is a performative speech act?]
to become my salvation/victory to the end of the earth.
The thing that trips up many scholars here, is how to relate verse 3 with verse 6. That's the puzzle piece that's hard to figure out, but that needs to be figured out if all of the servant language in these chapters is supposed to make sense.
In verse 3, God, says to "me," "You are my servant." God then identifies the servant as "Israel." Do you see that?
Based on just this verse, you'd probably decide that the "I" of these verses is Israel. Right? Throughout these chapters, God's servant has been clearly identified as Israel, and the most straightforward reading of this verse in isolation, is to say that continues. I put many of these references in your translation-- you should check them later. But God's servant has consistently identified as Israel throughout these chapters.
But then, as we keep reading, we come to verse 6. And here, God says He is "now" (verse 5) commissioning his servant not just for Jacob-Israel, but also to be a light to the nations, to somehow become God's salvation to the end of the earth.
So on the one hand, the servant is called Israel. And on the other hand, the servant is commissioned to Israel (and the nations).
That's quite the puzzle. How can the servant be called Israel, and at the same time, have a mission to Israel?
The only solution that I think really works, is to say that the servant is God's exilic prophet.
What does it mean that God calls his prophet "his servant Israel"?
We saw, throughout Isaiah 40-48, that Israel as God's people failed to be the kind of servant God desired. He was looking for a people who were committed to him, and who trusted him. He wanted his people to establish justice on earth through teaching (Isaiah 42:4) them about God and what God wants. He wanted his people to turn the nations from blindness, and darkness, to sight (Isaiah 42:7). But everything fell apart. Israel was better at being a Jacob, than at being an Israel (*John Goldingay).
And so what God is doing, in calling his prophet "his servant Israel," is declaring to the prophet that the prophet is the one who will fulfill Israel's calling (John Goldingay, The Message of Isaiah 40-55, pg. 369).
Now, this doesn't mean that the prophet has become Israel, exclusively. This isn't "replacement theology," as
though the nation of Israel has lost the right to be called by the name of Israel (*Alec Motyer, whose phrasing was helpful, even if I don't entirely agree with him here). God isn't totally starting over with the prophet, as He once almost started over with Moses. What God is doing here, in calling his prophet Israel, is temporarily narrowing down, going small, in order to more effectively go big (kind of like how God pivots from working with humanity as a whole in Genesis 1-11, to wanting to bless all the nations through Abraham starting in Genesis 12). God gives the prophet Israel's name, and vocation, in order to call Israel to return to God. "The prophet acts as Israel only in order to enable Israel itself to be Israel" (John Goldingay, The Message of Isaiah 40-55, 371).
But there's been a huge catch to all of this. God's vision for the prophet, and for his people, doesn't seem to be working. No one is listening.
And so the servant says, verse 4, that his entire ministry has been a waste. He feels like many pastors feel on a Monday morning, and even more so at the end of their ministry. What did they pour out their strength for? What did they accomplish? It's all been "meaningless," fruitless, emptiness. It's been for nothing. When the prophet says that here, he's not even really wrong. I find no desire to argue with him. And the prophet very straightforwardly tells God all of this. The prophet doesn't seem to be upset. He's not like Jeremiah, where he feels like God has betrayed him, and tricked him. This prophet is confident that God will vindicate him-- God will eventually show everyone that the prophet was God's faithful servant. And the prophet is confident that God will compensate him for his service (Matthew 19:29). No one out-gives God. But nevertheless, the whole thing's accomplished nothing.
God responds to this, verse 5, not by disagreeing with the prophet. God has no problem with anything the prophet has said. God responds, by talking about "now." "Now," God will take his unsuccessful prophet, and give him a much bigger, global ministry. The prophet will become a light to the whole world. He will somehow be God's salvation-- maybe you could translate this victory, I'm not sure-- to the ends of the earth.
I read a story once (and it's been a while, and I'm maybe going to get the details wrong) of a pastor who served in the same church for over a decade, and this church actively despised the pastor. It was one of those denominations where the denomination, and not the congregation, picks the pastor. So the people were simply stuck with him. This pastor served, week after week. He married them, and buried them, and taught them. And the people refused to see anything good in him. They wouldn't talk to him. They wouldn't help. And he just kept serving. Somehow, maybe 12 years in, people started to soften toward him, and take him seriously, and realize what they'd done. I'm sure that pastor spent a lot of time on his knees, telling God that his was pouring his strength for nothing. And I can imagine God telling his servant, "Stick with it. Be faithful to me. You're dealing with stubborn, difficult people, and what you're doing is working. You're slowly wearing them down with kindness and selflessness."
So this exilic prophet is despised, and detested by the nation. No one likes him. No one acts like he's actually sent by Yahweh. For sure, no one listens. [I find myself thinking that the prophet in some ways is like the Alex Jones of prophets.]
And this prophet announces, technically/rhetorically to the far-off lands, but literally/actually to the very people who hate him (that's how oracles to the nations work), that God is "now" doing something different. God has answered him. God will use him to even greater things. God will give him honor. If you're God's people in exile, that's a tough message. You've been steadily, consistently, refusing to hear this prophet's words. And now, he indirectly tells you that God is going to use him to do great things.
Now, we should notice that God hasn't announced how all of this will happen. How will the prophet move from being despised, to honored? How will he move from being unsuccessful, to globally successful? We don't know. It's hard breaking through to stubborn people, and we'll just have see what new thing God has up his sleeve. But something is coming, now.
So that's as far as I want to get into this chapter, this week. I expect next week, that we will read these same verses from a very different, surprising perspective.
Let me offer two applications today. The first will encourage some of you. The second, will be a warning to some of you.
First, the encouragement. Some of you have been faithful toward God, and toward God's people, for decades. But you maybe feel like you've accomplished nothing. You've poured out all your strength. You've maybe been taken for granted, and unappreciated. And there may be people in this church who dislike how you've served, and they very quietly slander you, and criticize you. They more or less secretly look down on you, and despise you. They focus on your flaws, and not your selflessness. They pick apart how you serve. You spend 2 hours making bars for a funeral, and all you hear whispers of is how the edges are a little over-baked. You clean out the bathrooms after a youth event, and all you hear about is that missed sticky spot by the urinal. You organize a really complicated church picnic, and all you hear is complaints about being bossy, and not caring enough about feelings, and about that one thing that you somehow forgot out of a 100. Or maybe, you simply didn't have the right kind of potato salad. It's easy to crack jokes about it, but you who serve well know that none of this is funny. It's truth. You have lots of stories like this. You pour yourselves out, and what do you get in return?
If this is you, you are familiar with the feelings of depression, and burn out. You know what is to feel unappreciated, and taken advantage of. No one seems to like when you step up and help. No one likes how you do things. And no one else seems to volunteer. Right?
Those kind of servants are the ones who often end up walking away from the church, feeling badly hurt. The rule of thumb seems to be that the more faithfully you serve, the more you are disrespected, and despised, and misunderstood, and hurt. Not everyone who can handle the relentless whispers, and the picking apart. You wake up the next day after a big event, and you wonder if any of it's worth it.
If that's you, I encourage you to do three things. First, if you know someone has been sinning against you by criticizing you, and slandering you, go to them (Matthew 18). If they don't listen, bring in two or three others. It's not right what they're doing, and everyone in church leadership, in this church, has your back.
Second, I encourage you to take the prophet's perspective. Talk to God about how you've been treated. Open up to him about being hurt, and despised, and feeling like it's all been a giant waste of time and energy. Trust that God's judgment of you is the one that matters. Say with the prophet, "My judgment is with God." And trust that God will repay you for your service. What you've given up, in time, and energy, and in being criticized, God will more than make up to you. The people you serve may never appreciate you. Or, you might find yourself surprised one day, when you are recognized, and honored, when people stand before you in your presence, and applaud. Either way, however it ends, know that you are the kind of servant that God seeks. You are the kind He draws near to. You are the kind He blesses. Ask God to give you strength, and trust in Him.
Third, embrace God's calling on your life (for what follows I'm hugely indebted to John Goldingay's ordination
sermon he gave based on Isaiah 49, available at johnandkathleenshow.com, which for some reason I could only download using Microsoft Edge not Chrome or Brave). God has named you his servant, Israel (Galatians 6:16). So do your best to embody what it means to be God's ideal Israel. Be the type of servant God is seeking. Be his sharpened arrow, useful in fighting God's battles. May your mouth be God's sword, to be wielded in ways that honor God, and only cut deeply and sharply in ways that God desires.
Now, for the rest of us, there's a second application that we should take away from this morning's passage. This one is less of an encouragement, and more of a warning. Some of us, perhaps, have a long and sordid history of despising and detesting God's servants. We are the ones who are a burden to serve. We are the ones, in the words of Hebrews 13:17, who make their service one filled with groaning, rather than joy. We are the ones who pastors and elders cry out to God about, and talk to God about how it's a waste of time and energy to serve us. We are the ones who, regardless of how many hours a teacher pours into a message, refuse to pay attention to God's commands (Isaiah 48:18). We are the ones, some of us, who do our best to chew through pastors every three or four years, and leave them so scarred they vow, "Never again."
If that's you, be cautious. You never want to be the one who drives God's most faithful servants to their knees, calling out to God, asking Him to help, telling God that they trust in God's judgment. Right? If those are the people who God pays most attention to, because they are the ones who pay the most attention to God and his commands, then you should be concerned about what God will do next. "Now" is a good time to get on the right side of what God is doing. "Now" is a good time to resolve to listen to God's servants, and to serve with them.
Translation:
(1) Listen, O coastlands, to me,
and pay attention, O far-off peoples:
Yahweh, from the womb, has called me; ["from the womb" is focused]
from the belly of my mother He has mentioned/made known my name,
(2) and He made my mouth like a sharp sword.
In the shadow of his hand He has hidden me,
and He made me like a sharpened arrow.
In his quiver He has hidden me,
(3) and He said to me,
"My servant, you [are]; ["my servant" is focused]
Israel, whom in/by means of you I will glorified," [same phrase, preposition+verb Isaiah 44:23]
while I said,
"For no reason I have labored;
For emptiness (Genesis 1:2)/nothingness (Isa 40:17, 23; 41:29; 44:9; 45:19) and futility (Ecc. 1:2), my strength I have spent. ["my strength" is focused]
However, my judgment [is] with Yahweh,
while my compensation [is] with my God/Elohim,"
(5) and now He has said-- Yahweh, The One forming me from the womb as a servant for him--
to return Jacob to himself,
while Israel to himself would be gathered,
that I would be honored/"heavied" in the eyes of Yahweh,
while my God has become my strength--
(6) He has said,
"Too light/trivial it is for you to be for me a servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
while the preserved ones of Israel to bring back,
and I hereby give you as a light to the nations, [the qatal is a performative speech act?]
to become my salvation/victory to the end of the earth.
